ethernet

A widespread networking scheme most commonly known as "the hardware device that enables the LAN to work at the office." Ethernet was originally developed by Xerox PARC and further developed by DEC and Intel. There are now several speeds, including 10BASE-T, with transmission speeds up to 10 Mbps, Fast Ethernet (or 100BASE-T), with transmission speeds up to 100 Mbps, and Gigabit Ethernet, which offers the highest level of backbone support, at 1000 Mbps (that's 1 gigabit or 1 billion bits per second).